Online timed test are we wasting our time?

[HigherEd7]

Thank you great points

Good question. Do you ever add test questions from the test banks?

Never.  I would never use test bank questions on an exam.  Maybe a few for a quiz or other formative assessment where they need to know the basics to come to class prepared.

For a few reasons:
One, they are almost always simple recall type questions that can easily be answered with Google or the textbook.  I'm not going to put a factual recall question on an summative assessment like an exam.
Two, the answers are almost certainly available online (even for application or higher level questions) and savvy students will find them (Course Hero and other "study help" websites have exactly this sort of material available for free).
Three, the questions can be low quality/not on essential concepts/poorly written.  I would have to go through each question to make sure it's not terrible.

Just write your own questions.  You can use test bank questions as a resource for images/types of questions/etc., but take the time to write your own.

Yes, include a time limit for the reasons other folks have stated.

[downer]

Good question. Do you ever add test questions from the test banks?

Never.  I would never use test bank questions on an exam.  Maybe a few for a quiz or other formative assessment where they need to know the basics to come to class prepared.

For a few reasons:
One, they are almost always simple recall type questions that can easily be answered with Google or the textbook.  I'm not going to put a factual recall question on an summative assessment like an exam.
Two, the answers are almost certainly available online (even for application or higher level questions) and savvy students will find them (Course Hero and other "study help" websites have exactly this sort of material available for free).
Three, the questions can be low quality/not on essential concepts/poorly written.  I would have to go through each question to make sure it's not terrible.

Just write your own questions.  You can use test bank questions as a resource for images/types of questions/etc., but take the time to write your own.

Yes, include a time limit for the reasons other folks have stated.

This is excellent advice for someone who has lots of time and no other priorities.

Writing test questions is hard work and very time consuming. I have often looked back at the old ones I created and thought that they were weak. Some test bank questions are good, some are not. If you are teaching a course each semester for years, you can gradually build up your own test bank with your own questions. It can be helpful to adapt test bank questions from elsewhere.

I use test bank questions all the time in online courses. It is generally very time consuming for student to cheat, and if they have to be switching between different screens to google stuff, they mess up.

If a student does copy and paste their answer from elsewhere, and you catch them (often rather easy), you can give them a zero on the test. That is satisfying.

Given how much demand there is for test banks, it is clear that many faculty use them, even if they won't admit it publicly.

As I often say, when teaching it rarely makes sense to aim to be the ideal as part-time faculty. Just aim to be good enough.

[Kron3007]

Good question. Do you ever add test questions from the test banks?

Never.  I would never use test bank questions on an exam.  Maybe a few for a quiz or other formative assessment where they need to know the basics to come to class prepared.

For a few reasons:
One, they are almost always simple recall type questions that can easily be answered with Google or the textbook.  I'm not going to put a factual recall question on an summative assessment like an exam.
Two, the answers are almost certainly available online (even for application or higher level questions) and savvy students will find them (Course Hero and other "study help" websites have exactly this sort of material available for free).
Three, the questions can be low quality/not on essential concepts/poorly written.  I would have to go through each question to make sure it's not terrible.

Just write your own questions.  You can use test bank questions as a resource for images/types of questions/etc., but take the time to write your own.

Yes, include a time limit for the reasons other folks have stated.

This is excellent advice for someone who has lots of time and no other priorities.

Writing test questions is hard work and very time consuming. I have often looked back at the old ones I created and thought that they were weak. Some test bank questions are good, some are not. If you are teaching a course each semester for years, you can gradually build up your own test bank with your own questions. It can be helpful to adapt test bank questions from elsewhere.

I use test bank questions all the time in online courses. It is generally very time consuming for student to cheat, and if they have to be switching between different screens to google stuff, they mess up.

If a student does copy and paste their answer from elsewhere, and you catch them (often rather easy), you can give them a zero on the test. That is satisfying.

Given how much demand there is for test banks, it is clear that many faculty use them, even if they won't admit it publicly.

As I often say, when teaching it rarely makes sense to aim to be the ideal as part-time faculty. Just aim to be good enough.

I have never used test bank questions, but would consider it if I were teaching a course that used a textbook that offered them.  I would definitely use them selectively and perhaps re-work them a little as I saw fit, but it seems reasonable to use them.

That being said, it does take time to create good questions but if you will be teaching a course repeatedly it is an investment.

[HigherEd7]

Good question. Do you ever add test questions from the test banks?

Never.  I would never use test bank questions on an exam.  Maybe a few for a quiz or other formative assessment where they need to know the basics to come to class prepared.

For a few reasons:
One, they are almost always simple recall type questions that can easily be answered with Google or the textbook.  I'm not going to put a factual recall question on an summative assessment like an exam.
Two, the answers are almost certainly available online (even for application or higher level questions) and savvy students will find them (Course Hero and other "study help" websites have exactly this sort of material available for free).
Three, the questions can be low quality/not on essential concepts/poorly written.  I would have to go through each question to make sure it's not terrible.

Just write your own questions.  You can use test bank questions as a resource for images/types of questions/etc., but take the time to write your own.

Yes, include a time limit for the reasons other folks have stated.

This is excellent advice for someone who has lots of time and no other priorities.

Writing test questions is hard work and very time consuming. I have often looked back at the old ones I created and thought that they were weak. Some test bank questions are good, some are not. If you are teaching a course each semester for years, you can gradually build up your own test bank with your own questions. It can be helpful to adapt test bank questions from elsewhere.

I use test bank questions all the time in online courses. It is generally very time consuming for student to cheat, and if they have to be switching between different screens to google stuff, they mess up.

If a student does copy and paste their answer from elsewhere, and you catch them (often rather easy), you can give them a zero on the test. That is satisfying.

Given how much demand there is for test banks, it is clear that many faculty use them, even if they won't admit it publicly.

As I often say, when teaching it rarely makes sense to aim to be the ideal as part-time faculty. Just aim to be good enough.

You bring up some great points. Writing test questions are very time consuming depending on how you write them. I have been using a 1 minute per question, and I am wondering if that is to much time. I have heard people using 45 seconds a question if my math is correct would be under 5 minutes for 10 question quiz.

[Hegemony]

45 second per question, for ten questions, is 7 1/2 minutes.  5 minutes for 10 questions would be 30 seconds per question.

In my experience, 1-2 minutes is the right amount of time per question, if the questions are fairly analytical. You can also check Canvas and see the average amount of time used per test, and adjust accordingly.  If they all finish it very early, reduce the time. If they mostly take all the time, allow more time.

[HigherEd7]

45 second per question, for ten questions, is 7 1/2 minutes.  5 minutes for 10 questions would be 30 seconds per question.

In my experience, 1-2 minutes is the right amount of time per question, if the questions are fairly analytical. You can also check Canvas and see the average amount of time used per test, and adjust accordingly.  If they all finish it very early, reduce the time. If they mostly take all the time, allow more time.

Thank you for the correction, and I agree. I might need to take a math refresher LOL, how did you figure that out?

[KiUlv]

I used a few test bank tests from the text this term as open-book quizzes. The quizzes weren't worth much in the overall score- the bulk of the grade in class comes from thoughtful reflection and original creation of material- and I don't think it's necessary for students to memorize these particular facts. However, this text is a good resource, and I want to make sure they know what material is in there. This class is a new prep for me, and I'll have to decide if I want to use them again next time I teach this course. Most of what I want them to do in this class is to create their own materials, and they can use things like this text as a resource for that.

[Parasaurolophus]

Who really has the time to generate 50 or 60 questions for an exam to make it difficult for the students to lookup?

I have time to generate 10-20 or so each time I teach the class. After a few runs, that adds up to a formidable bank of questions.

[larryc]

Well it depends on what you want from your online tests-- but yeah timed tests are a waste of time. A googling contest at best and a mechanism of rewarding dishonesty at worst.

[HigherEd7]

Great by points by all. So what is the solution online quizzes and exams are being used in online and face to face courses? Are we really educating students if they have all the resources at home? 

[Aster]

Great by points by all. So what is the solution online quizzes and exams are being used in online and face to face courses? Are we really educating students if they have all the resources at home?

This is the "homework" conundrum that has always existed in education. When assessment is done away from a regulated classroom (or proctored) environment, there are certain curriculum aspects improved (e.g. extended time, time flexibility, additional resources), and certain curriculum aspects that are made worse (e.g. plagiarism, cheating, poor time management, unequal resource access).

As professional educators, we pick and choose our individualized curriculum models to best fit how we want students to learn, and how we want to assess that learning. Responsible and experienced educators will identify the advantages and weaknesses of "homework", optimizing advantages and reducing weaknesses as much as possible.

Online assessments are just another form of homework. Use online exams with the same amount of caution as you would with traditional take-home tests. There are some perks with online that you can't get so much with take-home (e.g. automated software processes like timers, proctoring, plagiarism-tracking), and there are also more potential risks with online that are worse than traditional take-home (e.g. internet outages, technology access, resource inequality).

For fully online curricula, there are a couple of models that most educators should just outright avoid.
- MOOC's
- Automated Courses in a Can

And then there's just some random advice that most of us already know but sometimes just needs reminding.
*Public test Banks are often awful. But sometimes they are necessary and useful.
*People are far more distracted and more easily distracted than they've ever been, and it's especially bad outside the classroom
*A lot less college students have personal computers than most professors believe (no, a smartphone does not count)
*A "digital native" is not the same thing as being "technology competent". Most of today's students know less of operating professional office software than students of 15-20 years ago.
*A lot more college students cheat and cheat all the time than most professors believe
*Teaching is hard, but the crafting, grading, and securing of assessments is often a lot harder
*Trying out new pedagogy techniques is inefficient in the short term but sometimes it leads to better outcomes
*Disney ruined Star Wars movies

[FishProf]

Well it depends on what you want from your online tests-- but yeah timed tests are a waste of time. A googling contest at best and a mechanism of rewarding dishonesty at worst.

I think your first sentence and your second are contradictory.

You have asserted that there is no utility (or validity) to online testing.  I disagree. 

It can be done well, or poorly.  So can f2f tests.  What you are testing, and the design of your questions matters.

[apl68]

*A lot less college students have personal computers than most professors believe (no, a smartphone does not count)
*A "digital native" is not the same thing as being "technology competent". Most of today's students know less of operating professional office software than students of 15-20 years ago.

Public libraries see a lot of distance-education students who come to use library computer and internet resources because they don't have them at home.  Some of them need quite a bit of help from library staff to do their work.  It is likely that public libraries will see a LOT more of this need now that most of the nation's higher ed institutions are in panic mode and abruptly trying to push all of their instruction online.

[FishProf]

Fishprof U "requires" students to have laptops. 

We're about to learn how serious we are about that requirement.

[hamburger]

In my CC, there are students who don't know how to copy even the answers are in front of them! Based on experience, regardless of whether you ask 2-5 questions or 50 questions, the marks are similar.